Contempory Monologue 1- Angels in America

Play: Angels in America, Part One - Millennium Approaches

Playwright: Tony Kushner
Character: Harper Amity Pitt
Style: Contemporary
Part of the Play: Act1 Scene3
Setting: Harper's Apartment, Brooklyn 1985

Plays context: Angels in America follows the story of two couples (one heterosexual sexual and one homosexual). after the funeral of Louis's grandmother, his partner Prior tell him he has aids. Louis tries to nurse Prior but he soon realizes he cannot handle the stress of pain of the situation. Meanwhile Joe (who is a closet homosexual) is offered a new job in the Justice Department which would mean that him and his partner Harper would have to leave their home. Harper suffers from anxiety, hallucinations and is addicted to valium so she doesn't want to move to Washington. It is also believed that Harper suffers from Agoraphobia.

Harper's Monologue:

"People who are lonely, people left alone, sit talking nonsense to the air, imagining… beautiful systems dying, old fixed orders spiraling apart…

When you look at the ozone layer, from outside, from a spaceship, it looks like a pale blue halo, a gentle, shimmering aureole encircling the atmosphere encircling the earth. Thirty miles above our heads, a thin layer of three-atom oxygen molecules, product of photosynthesis, which explains the fussy vegetable preference for visible light, its rejection of darker rays and emanations. Danger from without. It’s a kind of gift, from God, the crowning touch to the creation of the world; guardian angels, hands linked, make a spherical net, a blue-green nesting orb, a shell of safety for life itself. But everywhere, things are collapsing, lies surfacing, systems of defense giving way… This is why, Joe, this is why I shouldn’t be left alone.

I’d like to go traveling. Leave you behind to worry. I’ll send postcards with strange stamps and tantalizing messages on the back. “Later maybe.” “Nevermore…” "

Harper's Character:

'Agoraphobia is the fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult of the help wouldn't be available if things go wrong.' - http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/agoraphobia/pages/introduction.aspx

In the simplest terms, she is scared travelling on public transport, visiting public areas with many people around her and leaving her home. This means that her character is a lot more closed in on herself and she could have frequent panic attacks where she may find it hard to breath. She is in her mid twenties so she still isn't in the most stables time in her life and this could mean that her character is slightly wilder compared to other characters in the play.

My View:

Personally I love this monologue, due to the fact that even though the whole speech is based on her condition of agoraphobia, it doesn't straight out say she has the condition and therefore I feel that this monologue would enable the person playing Harper for find her character idiosyncrasy's. for example she is afraid of being left alone and not having help so she would be a very nervous person which could make the actress want to play her by biting her nails and closing her body around her for support and comfort.

I also like this monologue as there is a change in the mood of the text when she says "I'd like to go travelling" I feel like this is a very interesting change to the text as she is avoiding her problem by changing the subject and therefore it I feel it would be an interesting experience trying to experiment how to change the mood so suddenly.

I feel this monologue is very well suited to me as it is in my age range and it would require me to used my natural accent to make it believable. I feel that I don't use my natural accent enough when I am looking at roles so I think it will be good to use it for this piece. I therefore think this monologue would also challenge me in some ways as I would have to research further into the condition, experiment with many ways of performing the text and I would try to find my own truth with in the text.

First Performance:
After performing the monologue for the first time in front of my class I received comments on what work and what did not. People said that the monologue defiantly suited me as they were able to see my own self through the character. I think that it helped that I used my own accent instead of the American accent from the play as it show more of me in the character. Also they said that it was a believable performance due to the fact that I small hand movements like rubbing my index finger to show nervousness. 

I think the idiosyncrasy's were the main way for me to show the character's emotions or hidden medical conditions so I defiantly want to keep those elements in my performance.  People also said that I was able to create an atmosphere for the performance which was able to draw the audience in. I feel like I was able to do this by stuttering on some of the lines to show how scared the character was and to make her as human as possible.

For the next time I perform my monologue, it was suggested to perform the piece without my glasses. I think this was suggested in order to show of my face more as I defiantly find myself hiding behind my glasses for safety. I think it would make myself more exposed and vulnerable to the audience and therefore would heighten  the insecurities of mine and the character.